Technical Field
This disclosure relates to systems, methods, and apparatus for providing illumination.
Background and Relevant Art
Recent trends in building design involve using one or more sets of decorative panels to add to the functional and/or aesthetic characteristics of a given structure or design space. In particular, the use of resin-based panels is becoming increasingly popular in lighting applications. Such resin materials may be manufactured to be more resilient and to have a similar transparent, translucent, or decorative appearance as cast or laminated glass, but with less cost. In addition, resin-based materials tend to be more flexible and versatile in terms of manufacture and assembly as they can be relatively easily bent, molded, colored, textured, shaped, gauged, cut, and otherwise modified in a variety of different ways and can provide a larger variety of colors, images, interlayers, shapes, and impact resistance than can glass.
Certain resin-based lighting applications involve the coupling of multiple smaller lighting modules to form a larger modular lighting assembly. One drawback to such modular lighting systems includes the unsightly gap or seam between two lighting modules at the site of coupling, as well as shadows, dark spots, and/or other unsightly byproducts or consequences of the design, manufacturing, and/or assembling process(es). Seams and/or features of this sort may detract from the aesthetic appeal of the lighting element. Furthermore, modular lighting concepts often include connective and other support or mounting hardware that is visible and aesthetically unappealing.
Accordingly, there are a number of disadvantages in resin-based lighting fixtures that can be addressed.